Vietnam jails 2 ex-police generals for role in gambling ring

Former police generals Nguyen Thanh Hoa (center front row) and Phan Van Vinh (right second row) are escorted by police to a courtroom of People’s Court in northern province of Phu Tho, Vietnam on Nov. 30, 2018. AP

HANOI, Vietnam  — A court in northern Vietnam has jailed two former police generals for protecting a multimillion-dollar online gambling ring as the Communist government steps up its crackdown on graft.

Former national police chief Phan Van Vinh and former head of hi-tech crimes police department Nguyen Thanh Hoa were sentenced to nine and 10 years respectively after being convicted of abuse of power at the end of the three-week trial by the People’s Court in Phu Tho province.

Two gambling ring leaders were sentenced to 10 and five years for organizing gambling and money laundering.
They were among 92 defendants involved in the case in which some $425 million was gambled online. /ee